Woman charged in Bootheel death investigation

Lisa McCormick, charged with Abandonment of a Corpse (Source: Dunklin County Sheriff's Office)

Autumn Rain Medley (Source: Family submitted).

This is where the body of Autumn Rain Medley was found by deputies (Source: Mike Mohundro).

DUNKLIN COUNTY, MO (KFVS) -

The Dunklin County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a 20-year-old Kennett woman.

According to Sheriff Bob Holder, his office got a 911 call requesting medical assistance Friday night on County Road 322 near the Gibson Community on Highway 53.

When deputies arrived at the scene they found a female lying in the road.

After medical assistance arrived on scene they found that the female was deceased.

She was identified as Autumn Rain Medley, 20, of Kennett.

According to Holder, Lisa McCormick of Kennett is charged with abandonment of a corpse in the Medley death investigation.

Holder says the Dunklin County Major Case Squad was activated to investigate the death.

According to the Dunklin County Sheriff's Office Probable Cause Affidavit, officers were able to determine one of the last people seen with Medley was a man who has not yet been charged.

According to Sheriff Holder, this person was interviewed and told officers he and Medley were riding in a vehicle from Campbell to Clarkton when she began to have trouble breathing and eventually passed out.

Holder states the man alluded to officers that Medley may have ingested drugs, but the man wasn't sure as to what she may have ingested.

The man then allegedly told officers he went to a home in Clarkton to seek help from Lisa McCormick and another female. He asked them to get help for Medley, according to the affidavit, because he did not want to take her to the hospital.

This person told officers it was because he was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Dunklin County, according to the affidavit.

According to Holder, the female that was with McCormick told officers later that she and McCormick took Medley down County Road 322. Holder said the female stated that's where she and McCormick removed Medley's body from their vehicle and placed the body on the side of the road.

Holder states the female with McCormick said that she used the victim's cell phone to call 911 for medical assistance. The two then reportedly left the scene and went back to Clarkton, according to the affidavit.

According to Sheriff Holder, McCormick provided two different stories when she was interviewed by officers.

At first, Holder states McCormick denied seeing Medley or knowing anything about the circumstances surrounding Medley's death. According to Holder, McCormick eventually told investigators that the man asked her to help Medley. Holder states according to the man, Medley was suffering because of a drug overdose.

McCormick then reportedly told investigators that the man took Medley's body from the front seat of his car and moved to the back seat of the female's car. Then McCormick said she and the other female drove to County Road near Highway 53 and removed Medley's body and placed it on the edge of the road, according to the affidavit. Holder says McCormick then told officers the other female used Medley's cell phone to call 911.

According to Holder, McCormick said when the two saw headlights coming down the road, that's when they left the scene where Medley's body was found.

"Autumn is the only granddaughter I have," said her grandmother, Barbara Medley. "That was the cruelest thing, for me, that you could do to a person … that's not even human in my book. They're cold hearted. I hope they get the maximum. Autumn paid the price. She will never be doing anything anymore."

One man who lives nearby in Clarkton hopes police figure out what happened to Medley.

"I don't know why someone would want to do that to a poor little innocent teen, it's a sad world these days," said Taylor Hill of Clarkton. "To the person who did it I hope you rot in jail. I hope you stay there. I hope you get life in jail with no bond. It's wrong."

The investigation is ongoing, and Holder says an autopsy will be performed by Dunklin County Coroner James Powell to determine the cause of death.

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